Starting Up with Starting Strength

[Geoff Bischoff]

Wondered where you got off to! I'm surprised if you got *any* gym time in Airborne; isn't that mostly three weeks of jogging everywhere, rolling on the ground (PLF) and jumping off of and out of things? I did the shorter, easier school (Air Assault), and I sure didn't have time or inclination to lift a barbell that entire 10 days.

CAQC complete, or still on the horizon?

Glad you're back at it, and that my article provided any inspiration to that end.

Happy training!

[m.z.mac]

I totally hear ya! I did Air Assault in Spring of this year and I was running on zero energy by the end each of those ten days. Yes, Airborne is ALOT of jogging and jumping, but if you are in pretty good Army condition (meaning you have run so much in your career that it really doesn’t affect your actual performance much) then it’s not so bad. And I had gym bro buddies to at least drag me there even if I didn’t do their workouts.

Thanks for asking about CAQC. I finally got my secuirty clearance and my family and I are leaving Hawaii next Friday for our PCS. I’ll start SOCM in Jan for my first leg of CAQC.

How goes the Chaplain training?

[Geoff Bischoff]

SOCM: Is that an initial part of the 18D pipeline, too, or is their gig entirely separate? Sounds like lots of fun for you. Here's hoping you can stay progressing under the barbell with all the pipeline work in front of you!

Chaplain candidacy is on track: I'll finish the M.Div. (84 credit Master's degree; longer than most Master programs) this time next year. Alongside that I've got some administrative requirements to meet, and some ecclesiastical requirements to meet. I'm a licensed minister, but not an ordained minister, yet; my ordination board meets several times to question me on various church-related things, starting 16 December and running through probably March. If I'm not burned as a heretic (I kid) then I should be ordained then, and the only admin-req left will be to perform at least one wedding (funeral experience is also required; sadly I've already done that duty, but not wedding duty). Maybe not as exciting as SOCM, but different strokes or something.

Being strong in the Army is going to do great things for you, beyond just the personal health benefits. It's great you're making this move. Blessings!

[m.z.mac]

Yes, so SOCM is the very first step to becoming an 18D, but the school is also attended by SO medics from all the branches. Medics for the Ranger Battalions, Corpsmen for Force Recon, Civil Affiars Medical Sergeants (in my case), etc. As you well know, 18Ds then go on to alot of other rigorous training, so I still won’t hold a candle to them.

For your ordination, is that part of the Army Chaplain requirements? I’m aware that ordination is typically the process by which churches and denominations qualify a new pastor/priest/what-have-you, just wondering if the Chaplain’s Corps also ordains.

***

Sat. 1 Dec
Squat- 2x5x45, 5x135, 3x205, 1x235, 3x5x260
Press- 5x45, 5x75, 3x95, 1x120, 3x135, 2x135, 5x130
Deadlift- 5x135, 5x185, 3x225, 1x275, 5x305

Moved training to Saturday, because I had movers at my house all day Friday. Obviously, I had some trouble with my Press today. I could try and blame it on a few factors related to this move, but I think there’s a more direct line leading to my misses today. On Monday, I got 2x5 at 130, and then 4 reps at 130, followed by a quick breather (during which I did rack the bar) and then hit the final rep. I knew that I should repeat 130 today, but I really wanted to press those 45 lb plates. I hate to admit it, but my greed caused me to fail at Question #2 “Are you taking well-disciplined jumps?”. So, I will repeat 130, next Wednesday and then probably start 2.5 lb jumps on Press. Still got a win though with the 300+ Deadlift.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Greedy bastard you! Heh. Well, you got those big wheels up for a triple; now you know what you need to do to really capture them and make them yours.

Ordination: Army requires Endorsement; that is, a denomination must back any given Chaplain -- Roman Catholic Church, or Church of JC of LDS, et cetera, and each of those types will need a different thing from a candidate. My Endorsing Agency (Associated Gospel Churches of America) requires ordination. So all the Army needs is for AGC to say, "Yeah he's officially one of ours." The Army itself doesn't do any ordinations.

I don't envy the next bit of time for you: PCS was always my least favorite time; mostly because I hate moving. Here's hoping it's relatively pain-free for you and your family.

[m.z.mac]

Okay, I see. That makes more sense. Well, hopefully the ordination board goes well for you, and I’m sure it will!

PCS-ing has always been fun (my wife and I are both ramblers at heart), we’re both just anxious this time since we have my 20 month old son. I’m sure he’ll be fine and it’ll all be okay, just anxious for now.

***

Mon. 3 Dec:
Squat- 2x5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 1x225, 1x245, 3x5x265
Bench- 2x5x45, 5x135, 3x165, 1x185, 3x5x205
Power Clean- 3x65, 3x95, 3x115, 5x3x135

Everything moved well today. My left knee was saying something to me this morning, but once I started my work sets of squats it was good to go. For some reason, anytime I’m not using the 2.5 lb plates, my squats always feel easier... I have no clue why, but it must be some sort of amusing mental block. Misgrooved the last rep of my last work set on bench and it turned into about a 7-second long fight to finish the rep. I just need to focus on tightness as the rep hits the bottom. Started light on the Power Cleans today. Had previously worked up to 3x3 @ 175, so I lowered it since the NLP calls for 5x3 on Power Cleans. Will probably take 2-3 10 lb jumps on them.

[m.z.mac]

Wed. 5 Dec:
Squat- 5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 3x225, 1x245, 3x5x270
Press- 2x5x45, 5x65, 3x95, 1x120, 3x5x130
Deadlift- 5x135, 5x185, 3x225, 1x275, 5x310

Left my house and moved into the hotel, last night, which confused my son and my dog and they both proceeded to wake me up every 90 minutes throughout the night. Couple that with the fact that I ate my first meal at 2 pm yesterday and then crammed down ~3,000 calories between 2 pm and my bedtime (830 pm), and you have yourself a less than optimal recovery day. That being said, the correct weights still moved today, even if I was a little dizzy after squats and needed the extra press warm-up at 45 lbs to help quiet my shoulder down. I started trying to nail Press 1.5, since my last two Press days went poorly. I think it went okay, they were moving in a pretty good groove. My wife actually walked to the gym and surprised me, this morning as I was psyching up for my work set of deadlifts and she said that 310 moved really fast. Hopefully I can keep a handle on recovery during this transition so I don’t sabotage myself, but I am lucky enough to be a 25 year old man, so everything doesn’t HAVE to be perfect.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Hotel: Still at Schofield, or out to Fayetteville?

Way to get it done on the move, brother.

[m.z.mac]

We’re still at Schofield for a couple more days. Then we’ll be on the road for about 3 weeks. Luckily, I some have places lined up to train already, and food definitely won’t be a problem with the Christmas season.

***

Fri. Dec 7
Squat- 2x5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 1x225, 1x250, 3x5x275
Bench- 2x5x45, 5x135, 3x165, 1x185, 2x5x210, 3x210
Power Clean- 3x65, 3x95, 3x115, 5x3x145

Squats were heavy, but they moved. I videoed my second set, and it looks like I need to lower the bar a little bit and when I get tired I shoot my hips too far back. I just got my lifting shoes, so hopefully that and some good concentration will fix it up. There are a good few SSCs in NC, so I would like to go see one and have them critique my form once I’m settled there. Obviously, I failed my last set on bench. Not a huge deal, I was just out of gas. I’ll redo 210 and try to move to 215. If that doesn’t work, I’ll start on some 2.5 lb jumps. I had a good bit of power to spare on the cleans, so I’ll take at least one more 10 lb jump (hopefully more).

[m.z.mac]

Mon. 10 Dec.
Squat- 5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 1x225, 1x245, 3x5x280
Press- 2x5x45, 5x75, 3x95, 2x115, 2x4x132.5, 5x132.5
Deadlift- 5x135, 3x225, 1x275, 5x320

Squats felt monstrously heavy, but they moved faster than they have for a couple of weeks. I believe that since I was squatting in Chuck Taylors, that I was relaxing my hamstrings and going to low into the hole, which was causing my hips to shoot out and me to goodmorning the weight. I trained for the first time in my weightlifting shoes today (the Nike Romaleos 3), and it seemed to help. I also adjusted the position of the bar and the positioning of my hands during the squat, which felt MUCH better on my shoulders and wrists and made the movement seemingly easier. I am under no illusion of perfection, but I think my form got better today. For my presses, I just ran out of gas. I am obviously not resting long enough between ending my squat work sets and beginning to warm up my pressing movements. I believe that that’s why I missed my last rep at 210, last Friday and why I didn’t get all 5 reps until my final set today. Could be something else, but for now, I’ll try taking a 5 minute break before I start working on my press and bench press. After my wife’s comment on quick bar speed at 310, I decided to bump up 10 lbs and see what happened, and I moved really well too. I cut the warm-up at 185, because having 4 warm-ups for Deadlift was introducing some post-workout fatigue. Pretty good workout, overall.